The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) presented the award to André Guyvarch, president and chief country representative Brazil, Bombardier Transportation, at a ceremony held during the 60th UITP World Congress and Mobility & City Transport Exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland.

The award confirms that the Eastern Express Monorail, also known as São Paulo Metro line 15, has put the city of São Paulo on the map as a global pioneer in urban public transport. Brazil´s largest city will be the first in the world to implement Bombardier’s high capacity Innovia Monorail technology for a mass transit public transport system.

The UITP has recognised Bombardier’s Innovia Monorail system for São Paulo as a true game-changer for public transportation in Latin America. It offers the ideal solution for megacities such as São Paulo, where innovative solutions are needed today to solve their mobility challenges. The Monorail’s many advantages include its high passenger capacity combined with the fact that the system is cost effective to introduce as it does not require major infrastructure or civil works. Innovia Monorail technology offers transport capacity similar to a metro while being up to twice as fast to implement.

São Paulo’s new 24 km line with 17 stations will operate with 54 seven-car trains, connecting the Vila Prudente and Cidade Tiradentes areas in the eastern part of the city. The new driverless transit system for São Paulo features the integrated Bombardier Cityflo 650 communications-based train control (CBTC) technology, which will allow for very short headways of only 75 seconds. Currently this journey takes approximately two hours by car and the Monorail will reduce the time to only 50 minutes, benefiting half a million users daily.

The project is being delivered by the Expresso Monotrilho Leste Consortium (Eastern Express Monorail consortium), led by Brazilian civil contractor Queiroz Galvão and incorporating construction firm Construtora OAS as well as Bombardier Transportation. The consortium was awarded the project in 2010 by the Companhia do Metropolitano de São Paulo (São Paulo Metro). The system will be completed in 2016.